Meghan Clyne on the Women's Vote

Meghan Clyne, a former colleague of mine at the New York Sun, has a piece in the Weekly Standard remarking on the Democratic Party's oddly retrograde approach to the votes of women:

a perceptive observer may notice a curious thing about this "war on women." It is based entirely on one set of policies: those pertaining to women's reproductive systems. By the Democrats' logic, to oppose abortion on demand and taxpayer-funded contraception is to be "anti-woman." Womanhood is thus defined by the desire for unrestricted abortion and free birth control; women themselves are reducible to ovaries.

It was once permissible in American politics to view women as incapable of concerns beyond childbearing​—​but not in this century. And in addition to insulting women's intelligence, this approach may well backfire. American women are active, thoughtful citizens; their political concerns are focused on the future of their nation, not the cheapest and easiest way to shut down their reproductive tracts.